Beth Burnham Mace

The nursing care sector’s occupancy rates fell 0.3 percentage point in the second quarter of 2016, a new report shows.

The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care data findings for the second quarter of 2016 reveal a drop in nursing care occupancy from 87.4% in the first quarter of the year to a current rate of 87.1%. Occupancy rates in the overall seniors housing sector also saw a drop of 0.3 percentage point, from 90% to 89.7%.

The annual inventory growth rate for the nursing care sector sat at 0% in the second quarter, the report found, down from 0.1%. Construction vs. inventory rates remained unchanged at 0.7% for both the first and second quarters of the year, according to Wednesday’s NIC announcement.

Private pay rents for the nursing care sector were up 2.8% year over year for the second quarter, the same rate as the previous quarter. The sector also finished the quarter with annual absorption rates of -0.8%.

Data on the broader senior housing sector showed slowing annual absorption and annual inventory growth rates, which could indicate future “downward pressure on occupancies,” said Beth Burnham Mace, chief economist for NIC.